Runaway Baby
by dpiddy
Summary: Tōgarashi Midori, a runaway ninja from Iwagakure and exiled kunoichi from Konoha, can't seem to get her shit together. When she accidentally bumps into two Akatsuki members her life finally starts to make some sense. I also have an AO3 account, so if you stumble across this fic there, don't worry, it's mine.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Midori... you weren't supposed to kill the target. You were supposed to capture him! WE were supposed to capture him!" Kurenai explained, her red eyes narrowing with frustration.  
"Um, whoops?" The green-eyed kunoichi shrugged, looking at her teammates. More like "mission-mates". "He was a criminal anyway, I did the world a favour by killing him!" She tried to excuse herself.  
"Yes, but we were supposed to interrogate him. Tsunade's gonna kill you for this." Asuma lit a cigarette and rolled his eyes. Unfortunately, he wasn't right. Tsunade did worse than just kill her. After bringing the dead body to Konoha (which was useless but it was better than coming back empty-handed), the team made its way to the Hokage Office. Kurenai and Asuma knew what was going to happen to the other kunoichi, but she had it coming. Every time they were supposed to capture someone, Midori somehow ended up killing said person. Accidentally or not. And now there she was, with another mission she screwed up. The blonde Hokage was obviously pissed off, and the sentence she gave didn't take anyone by surprise.  
"Tougarashi, this is the fourth time you fail a mission like this. Every time I tell myself I won't give you a second chance and every time you kill the target." Tsunade spoke with a firm tone. "I'm afraid you give me no other choice-"  
"Tsunade-sama, please, please give me one more chance! I promise I won't-" The kunoichi began but she was abruptly cut by the Hokage.  
"No. I'm sorry. You've been very helpful to this village but your behaviour and lack of responsibility will eventually get you killed. I therefor banish you fron Konohagakure. You have until morning to gather your things and leave." The blonde carried on.  
"B-but where am I supposed to go? The Leaf is my home!" Tougarashi Midori questioned the Hokage's decision. She truly was saddened by it. And she truly had nowhere to go.  
"Try Iwagakure. See if they'll take you back." Tsunade replied. "After all, it's been years since you left that village. Try to find your own path, Midori, because we can't have you here anymore. You're reckless. You're disrespectful. You're only quality is you strength. Go. Now."  
That was it for Tougarashi Midori, a girl who left Iwagakure back when she was 9 years old because her parents didn't let her become a ninja. For a while it seemed that Konoha was her true home but soon she will realise that she will never be accepted anywhere.  
She stormed out of the office, her face reddening with anger. Upon arriving to her apartment, Midori grabbed a duffel bag and slammed into it a couple of clothes, weapons and provisions, and, before leaving, she decided to trash her own apartment, just to leave whoever came there a 'welcome' message.

The sky was clear and the full moon's light could compete with the sun itself. Her green eyes distinguished colours and figures, but that was partly due to her heritage and clan. The Tougarashi clan in Iwagakure was a powerful shinobi clan until almost 2 hundred years ago, when her ancestors decided that being a shinobi was too risky for the 'conservation' and 'preservation' of their clan. So, her ancestors abandoned the ninja way, cousis married between themselves and because of this inbreeding, their jutsus and abilities faded. But Midori's father was a feisty one, and he went against tradition, marrying a wealthy womam who wasn't part of his clan. When she became pregnant she lost the child. Miscarriage. Years later she gave birth to Midori, and through some miracle she manifested all of her clan's abilities: agility & flexibility, seeing in the dark, enhanced hearing, smell and reflexes and lastly, those bright green eyes that her great-great-grandfather used to have, the very source for her name. When her parents forbade her to join the Ninja Academy, 9-year-old Midori ran away with her (somewhat) 'governess', who loved her so much that she decided to help her. She became a Chunin easily. Becoming a Jounin was a bit tricky but she managed eventually. However, as Tsunade-sama said, her recklessness and carelessness only helped her with failing her missions. And now there she was: a kunoichi on the run, with no village and no family, no friends and nothing to live up to.  
It's been hours since Midori left Konoha and wandered through the forest. Eventually she decided to remove her blue forehead protector and put it in the duffel bag.

The first village she went to was Tanigakure, but the villagers sent her away without reason (well, the reason was that she looked troublesome but to her that wasn't a good reason). Next came Sunagakure, but Gaara, the Kazekage didn't waste any time with her. He had met her years ago at the Chunin Exam and disliked her from the start. When she reached Iwagakure, however, she decided not to bother, so she walked a few miles away from the hidden village. When darkness surrounded her, Midori camped by a lake. She made a small campfire, untied her very messy and loose braid and after brushing her long, wavy, black locks she braided it again. Before it got really dark, the kunoichi put out the small fire so she wouldn't be detected and proceeded to lie next to a tree and try to get some sleep. That, of course, didn't happen for she was unable to close her eyes. The thought of being homeless saddened and troubled her. Midori sighed and daydreamed about being a great shinobi, about having a family and belonging somewhere, but her train of thoughts was rudely interrupted when she noticed a dim light and thin smoke coming from somewhere not very far from her. The first thing that came into her mind was to walk into the opposite direction. The second was to go there and see who the bloody hell was camping in a rather dangerous forest in the middle of the night. Of course she chose the latter, and she gripped her duffel bag, placed it over her shoulder, and grabbed her two kamas out of it, just in case she'd face someone dangerous. Midori cautiously and silently approached the area, but, just as she was about to jump on a branch above her, something snaked around her ankle. She felt and heard something moving behind her but she paid no attention to it. When she was ready to slash the thing with her kamas, it retreated to a large, dark figure. The brunette turned around to face whoever was out there but a mocking laugh disrupted the silence of the night.  
"Who would be so stupid as to walk straight into such an obvious trap, un?" Another figure, a thinner one, spoke.  
Midori watched carefully as something that looked like a bird flew towards her. Not knowing what to expect, she jumped on the branch above her and BOOM, the bird exploded.  
"Ugh!" The slender figure grunted as the tiny bird failed to hit the target.

"Don't waste your clay on her." The other one spoke with a very low pitched voice, almost sounding mechanical. The snake-like thing appeared again, this time above her so Midori thought fast. She tightened the grip around her kamas, caught the serpent (which she realised was more like a mechanical tail) between her weapons and front flipped from the branch, behind the two figures.  
"Not bad." The large silhouette huffed, yanking its tail from the grasp of the two kamas. "But not good either." It finally stepped out of the shadows, revealing itself to be a puppet. The other one came second, and Midori noticed a boy with blond hair tied into a ponytail and very feminine, yet handsome features.  
"Can I blow her up now? She's wasting our time, hm." The blond snickered but the mechanical tail stopped him by standing between him and the kunoichi.  
"Not yet, Deidara." The puppet spoke. ' _He's in the Bingo Books_.' Midori quickly thought. "Look at her: she belongs to no village, but she definitely has shinobi skills. Perhaps, I dare say, she is a fugitive, a missing nin? Am I right?" The puppet continued.  
"As if I'd justify myself in front of you, you creeps!" The green-eyed ninja spat. "I belonged to a village!"  
"But why use the past tense?" The large puppet spoke again. "Did they kick you out? Did they not want you?"  
The brunette tensed. A lot. The bastard struck a chord in her, as if he read her mind.  
"None of your business." Midori replied. "As if someone like you would are about my past." She frowned, her eyes starting to feel more watery than usual.  
"You're absolutely correct. We don't care about your past. But maybe about your present and future?" The mechanical thing spoke again. "Maybe you can come with us and finally find a place where you can fit in."  
"Wait,, Hiruko, what?" The blond-Deidara-questioned. "You want to bring her with us, un?"  
"We'll see what Leader-sama has to say about her. If she proves herself useful to the organization, it doesn't hurt to have extra help." The thing-Hiruko-remarked.  
"Hello, yes, I'm standing right here. Don't I get to choose what I do?" Midori quirked a brow at the two.  
"No." Was all she remembered before getting hit in the head by the mechanical tail and knocked unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

When her green eyes shot open, she was definitely _not_ in the woods anymore. Before realizing she was being watched by lots of eyes, she cursed under her breath for being so damn stupid. When her headache started to fade away a bit, she noticed 10 people in the room, all of the wearing the same black and red cloak the previous two, Deidara and Hiruko, also wore. Only one of them was missing. Hiruko, the humongous puppet.

"Leader-sama, we found her wandering through the woods of Iwagakure." A voice spoke and it was not Deidara. And definitely not Hiruko.  
"That's because she IS from Iwagakure." A hooded man spoke. "Look at her eyes. She's a Tougarashi. I killed a few of her relatives, maybe a great-great-something. That's when they stopped being shinobis. Bastards. I got a loooot of money from those heads. Now they're useless." Midori's eyes widened. How old was that man? That happened 200 years ago!  
"She's not from Iwa." The man next to Deidara spoke again.  
"Che, with all due respect, Akasuna no Sasori, she is." The hooded man countered.  
"Enough, Kakuzu. Sasori, continue." The man they called 'Leader' harshly cut the hooded man-Kakuzu-off.  
"Arigatou, Leader-sama. We found this through her belongings." Akasuna no Sasori pulled Midori's forehead protector from a pocket.  
"Did you also sniff my panties while you were at it?" The woman shot at the man. She could feel all the death glares from everyone at the back of her head. That was until someone laughed hysterically at her remark. Her green eyes searched the place to find the source of laughter and she found him: silver hair, pale skin and a cloak just like all the other, except it was unbuttoned from neck to his lower abdomen. She smirked at him and mentally high fived herself: it looked like she found an ally.  
"I didn't want to kill you in the woods but it will be my pleasure to do it now." Sasori hissed. So he was the master of the puppet Hiruko. Midori glanced at him with anger in her eyes. Somehow, in some twisted way, she felt alive. She felt passion in herself, she felt emotions, unlike how she felt in Konoha. She was an outcast, and outsider, an intruder to the Leaf.

"There will be no killing. Yet." The Leader spoke and interrupted her thoughts. "Let her speak. Let us hear what she has to say."  
Midori scratched her head and crossed one leg over the other.  
"Well, what do you want to know? It's obvious I can't lie since you'll probably slit my throat if you feel I'm not telling the truth." The brunette sighed.  
"Very well. Konohagakure or Iwagakure?" Leader-sama questioned.  
"Both." The green-eyed kunoichi replied. She knew she was being a smartass and that might quicken her death so she decided to give an explanation before someone stabbed her in the back. "I was born in Iwa but moved to Konoha when I was little. That's why you found a Konoha forehead protector in my bag."  
"And why weren't you wearing it?" Sasori inquired.  
"Because I was banished from the village." The brunette shrugged, leaning back on the chair. It was awkward to be the only one sitting when ten other people were standing.  
"Banished." The Leader of the strange organization repeated. "And where were you headed?"  
"I tried Tanigakure but they kicked me out as soon as I arrived. Sunagakure wasn't any different, the Kazekage and I met a couple of years ago and he disliked me from the start, but even after he made friends in Konoha he still disregarded me. The feeling was mutual."  
"So why did we find you around Iwa, un?" Deidara rose a brow. If that wasn't an interrogation...  
"I wanted to go to Iwa thinking that they might accept me but let's be serious." Midori began. "I ran away from Iwa years ago, I'd be more than unwelcome there."  
"You said you moved to Konoha, not ran away from Iwagakure. Care to explain?" The Leader demanded.  
"I ran away because my parent forbade me to join the Ninja Academy in our village. I thought in Konoha I'd be accepted but apparently I was wrong." The woman answered.  
"And why did the Hokage banish you?" Another voice asked, but she couldn't distinguish the figure.  
"Because I failed missions. I accidentally killed the targets we were supposed to take to Konoha for interrogation." She sighed.  
"How can you _'accidentally'_ kill people?" A voice questioned.  
"Well," Midori began, a bit embarrassed, "One time I forgot who the target was. One time the target said he'd kill me when he escaped so I couldn't take that chance. One ti-"  
"Enough. We understand." Leader-sama cut her off. "Not finding your place, not fitting in. I would like to give you a chance. Our organization, Akatsuki, would like to accept you. If you join-"  
"Okay!" The brunette smiled.  
"You didn't even hear the offer, un." Deidara intervened.  
"Hey, I don't care as long as I have a roof over my head. Plus, I've got nothing to lose." The kunoichi responded. She heard whispers all around her.  
"As you probably noticed, we work in pairs. For example, Deidara is paired with Sasori." The Leader motioned towards the blond and the redhead. "Since you'd be our eleventh member you will be classified as a rookie. Helping a pair or taking someone's place in case a member can't complete their mission."  
"I feel like there's a catch." Midori titled her head, her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed.  
"Clever. You will have to spar with Deidara, Tobi and Hidan in that order. If you manage to resist at least forty minutes with each of them, we will gladly accept you. If not, we will kill you." The Leader explained.  
"A Jounin against S-ranked criminals with special Kekkei Genkais? That's totally gonna work in my favour." She hummed.  
"Tomorrow you will spar with them. Tonight you will rest. Does your head hurt?" A feminine voice asked. Ah, that must be Konan.  
"After being hit with a mechanical tail? Nah, it's peachy. Seriously, it'll be fine, I've had worse." Midori smiled at the woman with blue hair.  
"In that case you're all dismissed." The Leader ended and left the room, as did several other members. The green eyed kunoichi was approached by a man with a swirly, orange mask, who introduced himself as Tobi (and who was strangely speaking in third person), and led her to the kitchen. So far she knew 2 out of 3 people she was supposed to spar with the following day.

She already knew what Deidara could do with his exploding clay, Tobi seemed extremely cheerful (and hopefully he could easily be distracted). All she had to do was find out who the third person was and find out something about him. Walking in the kitchen with Tobi, Midori offered to cook for them, since he looked like he'd blow the place up or accidentally give her food poisoning, and tried to milk some information out of him about Hidan. Once the noodles were finished, she sat down at the table with the odd Akatsuki member.  
"ITADAKIMASU!" Tobi shouted, almost deafening the kunoichi.  
"Itadakimasu!" Midori smiled. "Say, Tobi, can I know a bit about Akatsuki? You know, since I might join you?"  
"Tobi will tell you everything you want to know!" He said in between bites, the orange mask never leaving his face.  
"Great! Who are the other members?" She asked.  
"You've met Leader-sama, Pain," He began, rapidly eating the noodles under his mask, "Pretty Konan next to him, Deidara and Sasori, Kisame and Itachi and Kakuzu and Sasori!"  
"And you?"  
"Aah, Tobi is not yet a member! Not officially at least…" He seemed sad. Midori reluctantly placed a hand on his shoulder.  
"Um… there, there, Tobi, I'm sure you'll become one soon enough." She forced a smile. But there were _ten_ people staring at her, not nine. However, the kunoichi decided not to pressure him since he wanted so desperately to be a member. Instead, she changed the subject.  
"Nee, Tobi, what can you tell me about Hidan?" She inquired, placing the chopsticks next to the bowl of noodles.

"Why don't you fucking ask him yourself?" A husky voice rudely interrupted the peaceful dinner.  
"And you are?" Midori rose a brow as she turned around on her chair to see who entered the kitchen. Topless, silver hair, her so-called _ally_.  
"Hidan." The man smirked, his violet eyes piercing right through her like a blade. "I liked your snarky comment back there, fucking nice."  
"Thanks, I guess." She watched him pull her bowl of noodles and dig in it. "Seriously?"  
"Mhm." He munched on her food but didn't bother to swallow before talking. "So, what the fuck do you want to know about me?"  
"First," The brunette folded her arms across her chest, "swallow, bitch. Second, I was interested in your Justus."  
In an instant, the silver haired man was at her throat. 'Impulsive.' She thought as she struggled to breathe. Good, she'll use that to her advantage.  
"You know," He breathed into her ear, "As much as I like your fucking comments, don't shoot them at me. You'll regret it, _bitch_." Hidan released his grasp around her throat and went back to his seat to finish the rest of the food. Midori would lie if she said that didn't turn her on a bit.  
"You need a tampon?" The brunette snapped back, rubbing her neck but keeping her guard up in case he decided to break her neck or kneecaps or whatever.  
"Jashin damn it, why couldn't I be the one to fight you first? That way I could've fucking killed you and be done with it." He spat. Literally, he spat some saliva as he did not take her advice and did not swallow his food.  
"I should've figured out you were a Jashinist by you pretty necklace." She shrugged. Meaning that destruction and pleasure from pain were everything to him. Meaning that during their fight he'd try to wound her as painfully as possible or torture her for the sake of his pleasure. Midori wasn't stupid: she always tried to find out more about her opponents before fighting them. But every time she ended up not following her plan and failing her missions. This time, however, that wasn't going to happen. She didn't know what possessed her to be so determined to join the Akatsuki. Maybe it was the fact that she could finally fit in somewhere. Maybe it was the handsome Jashinist. Maybe a little bit of both.  
When dinner was over, Tobi showed her around and the brunette found the way to the bathroom herself. As she wasn't already a member of the organization she wasn't given a room, so she had to sleep on a couch and use the spare bathroom (which was incredibly tiny). Grabing a pair of long grey pants and a purple baggy T-shirt which she used as pajamas, the kunoichi untied her braided hair and turned the shower on. She brushed her jet black hair while waiting for the water to get hot and looked in the mirror. 'You've got this, girl. Don't fuck it up like you always did. Like you always _do_. This isn't a game, Mid, it's life or death.' The woman thought. The hot water felt like a blessing on her skin, especially after spending days bathing in lakes, since she didn't find any available inns after leaving from Konoha. She scrubbed the dirt away and washed her hair, the wound from her head still stinging. Luckily it was a bearable pain. Once done, the brunette dried her body, braided her hair and changed into clean clothes.  
The couch seemed comfortable enough. Konan left a pillow and a blanket for her but the room wasn't empty. Apparently it was some sort of common room - living room for all the Akatsuki members. Midori plopped on an empty armchair. She didn't exactly want to sit next to Deidara since she had to fight him in the morning. He seemed bored and uninterested in her, browsing channels on the TV. An awkward silence fell over them once the blond turned the TV off.  
"Do you want to go to sleep, hm?" He eventually asked her. That was even more awkward that the silence because she didn't know what to actually answer. Why'd he care anyway?  
"N-no, not really." Mid replied, her answer sounding more like a question. He noticed the puzzled look on her face and laughed.  
"Kid, I like you, I wouldn't mind if you joined us, un." Deidara told her.  
"I'm not a kid, hey! I'm 23. I'm probably older than you!" She replied, pouting at him. "And thank you, I'd actually like to find my place for once."  
"I know how you feel, that's exactly why I'm going to let you win tomorrow, hm." He explained, giving her a genuine smile.  
Midori looked at him in awe. For a criminal, Deidara was actually quite kind and sweet. Unless he was playing mind games.  
"Che, I started on the wrong foot, though. Hidan wants to kill me." The woman sighed, getting up from the armchair and moving on the couch, next to him.  
"Don't take it personal, Hidan wants to kill _everyone_ , un. His imaginary god is telling him to do that." The blond laughed. "But he's a stubborn idiot and his moves can be anticipated. Tobi, on the other hand, is unpredictable, hm. If you ask me, I'd be more careful with the guy who speaks about himself in third person than the guy who sacrifices virgins."  
"I tried to gather information about Tobi and Hidan and all I got is that Hidan's impulsive and Tobi can be distracted." Midori shrugged.  
"Try to catch Tobi off-guard. He's fast for an idiot, un." He whispered after looking around to make sure there was no one else there. Their conversation went on and on, and Midori finally felt like she found a friend. Back in Konoha she couldn't consider anyone a friend. Iruka was the closest person she could call a "buddy" but that was mostly due to the fact that they both grew up without parents from a certain point of their lives. She liked Naruto a lot, but she couldn't get past an invisible wall he built around himself. After his Chūnin exam, however, he seemed to open up a bit to her, but he left Konoha to train. Midori always admired Naruto's will. But other than that, she had no true friends and Deidara seemed like a really nice person. He told her about his love for art, his kekkei genkai (which _definitely_ creeped her out), his life before the Akatsuki, but she had to admit she was tired and fell asleep next to him. He covered her with the blanket and left. He would see her in the morning when they had to spar.  
The kunoichi slept peacefully for the first time in her life. No nightmares, no insomnia, no Hokage who scolded her. She woke up feeling refreshed and energized. At first, Midori thought everything was just a dream, but when Konan told her to get dressed and get ready for the fight, she smiled from ear to ear and went straight to the bathroom.


End file.
